War and Common Sense, good bedfellows
November 4, 2008 by gbrown · Leave a Comment
It is easier to lead men to combat, stirring up their passion, than to restrain them and direct them toward the patient labour of peace - Andre Gide
I’ve riffed already about Common Sense and truth.
Common Sense can dominate truth through hero worship by elevating the values of our heros to exemplifying the moral code we should all be following.
Soldiers who die in combat are heroes. That’s what our leaders keep telling us.
At school we learn of the “heroic” conquests of Custer, Wellington, Montgomery and Napoleon. All soldiers whose claim to fame lay on the battlefield.
The irony is that Common Sense needs us to believe ib these heroes. If there is no higher heroic sacrifice than giving your life for the political ambitons of our leaders then there will be plenty willing to do so both from the Madrassars of the East and the forces of the West.
Military heroism is no more than Common Sense coercing us to the bidding of our political leaders. Soldiers who die in combat are not heroes but the unfortunate victims of a political game beyond the average person’s comprehension.
Of course there are many instances where soldiers engage in heroic acts of self sacrifice and altruism but these ultimately were in the interests of their buddies, civilians or innocents and were not achieved through staring down the barrel of the gun.
There is nothing heroic about taking another person’s life. Ironically as our leaders make us fearful of the unpredictable and insane threat from suicide bombers - individuals so devout they are to give up their life for the cause, we with the other hand sign up countless youth to do the very same.
Real heroism is the bravery demonstrated by those unfettered by the shouters and the cultural demands of Common Sense in refusing to be silenced about the truth.
Sean Penn is attacked by Fox News and denounced by the wider media for being critical of the US foreign policy - drawing a line between it and the Islamic world’s wider loathing for Bush’s ambitions in the Middle East. The heroism lies in his desire to let it be known regardless of the apparent negative impact on his career.
It’s the same heroism demonstrated by John Lennon in his solo works highlighting the fallacies of Common Sense that underpinned countless politically charged conflicts in the 20th Century. As a musician, Lennon was never mainstream in comparison to McCartney because of his refusal to compromise his principles for public opinion.
The legacy of a PR game well played by avoiding offense may have made McCartney’s estate significantly richer than Lennon’s but compare for example “Mull of Kintyre” with “Imagine” or any of Wings’ offerings with “Working Class Hero”.
The irony is that as much as it’s needed, being truthful isn’t a great shot in the arm for your career. Politcians, actors and musicians all know that saying what you really think will alienate the wrong people. It’s a tough call - many would compromise in order to protect their careers. Yet, this is the nature of true heroism that lies at the heart of Uncommon Sense - endeavours that reduce suffering in the world without violent means which themselves put your own life and career at risk. That is real sacrifice.
“Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.” Einstein
Currently reading: A Path With Heart by Jack Kornfield
Technorati Tags: andre gide, john lennon, einstein, jack kornfield, a path with heart, common sense, graham brown, grahamdbrown, sean penn, fox news
Uncommon sense of the truth, or why do people like the bad guy?
October 26, 2008 by gbrown · Leave a Comment
Ask any hollywood actor about the role they’d next like to be cast in and its inevitably the bad guy. The reason? “It’s more fun”.
The reason why we admire the guy we’re often supposed to hate is that he’s consistent to his values, whatever they are.
Watch any budding singer nervously waiting for the panel’s response on Xfactor or Idol and it’s Simon Cowell’s opinion they all value. Hate him as you may, he’s upfront and consistent in what he says and believes.
That’s the reason we loathe so many politicians; politicians get lost in popularity contests and are haunted by the mistakes of their peers rather than motivated by the opportunity to make a difference.
Indiana Jones is the eternal heroic archetype that is the antithesis of the modern day politicians. A rougeish swashbuckler that has strong, unswerving principles yet riddle with imperfections and human weaknesses that would fill a year’s supply of tabloids.
Tony Blair epitomizes this paradox of the good guy we love to hate. With youthful zeal he took office ushering a change following 4 terms of stale and decaying political infighting. His motives were noble and his words resonated with the optimism of the time reflected in their party anthem “Things can only get better…”
Yet Blair’s downfall was no different from any professional politician - they feared making the mistake that would exocet their career.
That’s why I can’t help but admire politicians and pundits, like Cowell, who say it as it is and you can either like it or lump it. Names such as Ron Paul, George Galloway and commentators Christopher Hitchens, Noam Chomsky and Michael Moore. Whether you agree with their political standpoint or not you know exactly what you’re getting.
Hitchen’s “Love, Poverty and War” is an interesting collection of his writings. I don’t always agree with what he says but I admire his quest for finding the truth.
His opening chapter demonstrates his bravery in taking on an icon of hero worship - Winston Churchill. Common Sense holds that Churchill was a heroic, stoic leader who galvanised the masses with his wartime rhetoric. Yet, how much of this “aura” is genuine?
Obviously somewhere between 0 and 100 percent. The nub of this riff is, however, not how much is true but how people react to being inquisitive about the nature of the truth.
Our Common Sense creates a communal identity that stands challenged when tested by such questions. If, for example, Churchill wasn’t as heroic as I once thought does that itself challenge the nature of “Britishness” and thus my own identity (should I care about such things). If I did, the question would be an uncomfortable one and best shouted down.
So you have to respect the names I’ve already mentioned in having the balls to stand up for truth in the face of Common Sense constantly shouting them down. Ron Paul, for example, is on record stating that US foreign policy is the root cause of the Sep 11th terrorist attacks at a time when hysteria prevented many from making such claims for fear of being, in modern McCarthyesque terms, labelled “unpatriotic” or, worse still “siding with the terrorists”.
Hitchens is equally admirable.
He publicly is critical of religion for its influence on modern society which he sees generally as negative. “God is not great” is the title of one of his books, giving you an idea on where he stands on the whol creationist debate. I don’t agree with him on many of his points but I respect his ability to demand an open forum for enquiry which questions the rationale behind so much of our Common Sense when so many try to shout it down with emotive terms such as “unAmerican” or “blasphemous”.
It’s ironic, then, I should use a Churchill quote in summary: “the truth is incontrovertible”.
Ironically though Common Sense is often the main reason why it will never win out because the good guy, like the politician has to do everything but make a mistake and the truth is all about inviting criticism in.
Currently Reading: “Love, Property and War: Journeys and Essays” by Christopher Hitchens
Technorati Tags: graham brown, grahamdbrown, christopher hitchens, hitchens, noam chomsky, michael moore, tony blair, george galloway, ron paul, truth, love poverty war, churchill
Uncommon Sense is Meatballs…
October 25, 2008 by gbrown · Leave a Comment
I’m a big fan of Seth Godin, you probably know already (I’ve already blogged down the line about The Dip). I borrowed one of his riffs earlier when I blogged about Sliced Bread and why we need to challenge the received wisdom. Godin was the first author to switch me on to the idea of the Purple Cow. For our business, our research and our clients it gave weight to the need to rewrite the rules and have confidence to enjoy a dose of Uncommon Sense.
Meatball Sundae continues where he left off Purple Cow, encouraging us all to avoid possibly the biggest marketing pitfall out there - adopting new technologies to provide the icing on the old fashioned marketing cake. Lipstick on a pig… as some politicians would say.
So much of old fashioned marketing is broken, metrics being one of them. In this video I provide my ideas about what marketing metrics technology companies should be using particularly when engaging younger consumers. Included are lifetime value, churn and net promoter score.
Just talking about Web2.0 will not make any difference. As Jack Welch says “What you measure gets done”.
If you want to pan for gold, pan upstream ie if you want change you need to change the source - this has been the theme of my recent presentations to Vodafone and Telenor. If we continue to only measure short term metrics such as ARPU, awareness and market share no matter what we do, we will continue to replicate the same results.
Now is the time to include other metrics alongside those mentioned to help marketing reconnect with consumers.
Technorati Tags: meatball sundae, seth godin, graham brown, the dip, uncommon sense, vodafone, telenor, mobileyouth, youth marketing, arpu, net promoter score
Graham Brown on Uncommon Sense
October 24, 2008 by gbrown · Leave a Comment
Technorati Tags: uncommon sense, common sense, jack kornfield, a path with a heart, ts eliot, sipadan, graham brown, marketing
Busy - a modern disease
October 21, 2008 by gbrown · 1 Comment
Busy - a modern disease
Busy…it’s a modern disease. Yet, common sense holds that busy people are by definition successful people.
How we boast about our “busy-ness”.
Got to dash… You don’t get much busier than the sprawling metropolis of Tokyo where I lived for several years in the post-bubble 90s.
How is it that the consumerist dream where money buys everything from limited edition Paul Smith brogues to 7 story Louis Vuitton megastores to the latest 3G mobile phones that outperform your average handycam to school girl knickers, that Japan ranks consistenly last in the WHO rankings for “happiest people on the planet”?
Ironic that the culture that created Zen Buddhism finds itself lost in noise. Zen - the art of doing one thing at a time. The art of taking time off…
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
If you’ve watched Ferris Bueller’s Day Off you’ll know how the rest of the story plays out. We can choose to be Ferris or the cowering best buddy Cameron, shaped by the agendas of his father - the father who kept the Ferrari in the garage. Too busy to enjoy the Ferrari, Cameron’s father would keep the beast under lock and key, until the day that was - that he “arrived”… or retired.
Taking time off
So, I’m taking a day off, or maybe a week or a month - and choosing not to waste life on “work” or the pursuit of other people’s goals. Through leverage and massive outsourcing, I’m able to work a few hours a week and get a lot done.
Jeni, my PA, called the plumber to arrange a gas inspection on Friday, straight after she called the new tenant to welcome her to the property and let my cleaner know that Monday was a bank holiday and spend the morning calling furniture stores to get quotes to equip a 6 bedroom HMO. Jeni costs a lot less that you’d pay a graduate from these shores - and she is excellent at what she does. She’s one of a larger outsourced team, all of whom are very good, hand picked and trained. Friday was so productive that I snuck out to play the driving range for an hour, came back took a nap and woke up to watch some Olympic action. Not much happening there, but better than answering emails all day.
Using Uncommon Sense in Youth Marketing by Graham Brown
October 21, 2008 by gbrown · Leave a Comment
by Graham Brown
Youth marketing is always redefining the parameters of what is acceptable. Bright individuals will always push the envelope however there will always be a marcomms department to keep them in check. That was one of the themes of my recent presentation to Vodafone on Youth, Loyalty and Trust and follows on from the Great Youth Brands Series on MobileYouth featuring Red Bull, Jones Soda and Toyota Scion.
Common sense dictates that if a brand gets it wrong, it’s time for damage limitation with the marcomms department leading the charge.
That’s how ordinary brands deal with extraordinary issues - in average ways producing very average results.
However, I’d like to focus on how great youth brands are breaking the mold and doing something out of the ordinary.
Perhaps the best example to date is how EA dealt with the apparent glitch in the latest release of Tiger Woods 08 that including the “Jesus Shot” - where Tiger could walk on water. Obvious mistake. Not just an obvious mistake, but a well known one - one youtube pundit (Levinator 25) made it public amassing over 600,000 views.
Embarrassment for EA? Yes, if it was handled using Common Sense.
However, check this out for sheer marketing brilliance
This is the result of individuals within an organization taking risky decisions to produce extaordinary results that substantially impact the brand in a positive way - that’s what I call Uncommon Sense. That’s the result of bypassing marcomms and challenging the notion of “that’s how it’s always been done”.
Ask yourself, would youth react positively or negatively to this communication from EA then compare to what an average brand would do - ie a cover-up.
Technorati Tags: graham brown, mobile youth, youth marketing, ea, ea mobile, tiger woods, jesus shot, vodafone, jones soda, scion, red bull
Uncommonly Practised - the 3 Key areas for growing business
October 20, 2008 by gbrown · Leave a Comment
Anyone who’s been involved in growing a business will have experienced the “plateau” - the point at which growth slows down and successive increases in input effort result in diminishing outputs.
Why?
Because we end up working in the business rather than on it. We end up compromising the 3 key areas for growing business (highlighted below) for the day to day needs of urgency - email, managing people, meetings, admin and other people’s agendas. At the time we end up practising a large dose of common sense.
Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits is just one of those books that keeps coming back to you at times like these. Maybe it’s the integrity of the habits Covey writes about. Perhaps the most enduring line from the book is this:
“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing”
So what exactly is the main thing? Well, it’s easy to calculate. Fast forward your life to the last 5 minutes on your death bed and in continuing with the scrooge like visitation assuming your mind still culpable, you’ll say something like this “I wish I had spent more time on …X”.
What is X? checking email? buying more leads? time at the office? on Facebook? Probably not. If you have an ounce of sentimentality and feeling it’ll be “time spent with loved ones, time spent doing what I love”.
…Relationships, Creativity and Planning.
This is where all the money is made. Yet these are uncommonly practised - uncommon sense even though the more you do this the happier you are the more value you create.
Real estate property investment as with any investment business is about lifestyle flexibility. We do it because it gives us choices, yet so many end up with none - a well paid job that demands constant feeding of the “property monster” - the monster that constantly demands “more”… More leads, More Cashflow, More Properties… just one more course I need to attend. Arrival is always “just around the corner”. All your time is spent out of that 20% zone - the zone of creativity, relationships and planning. One call to a potential partner could be worth 500 hours of effort, but we’re too busy chasing our tails to make time for it.
Common Sense - down to your last £10m
October 19, 2008 by gbrown · Leave a Comment
From £400million to £10million
Common Sense is about living out other people’s agendas and the fear of sheer nakedness in having to decide what’s important and what really doesn’t add to the aggregate of your life experience.
Often we are exposed to common sense through the desire (read “hunger) for success. We all, to some degree, chase it.
Why? Because we feel that our lives our incomplete until we have arrived committing ourselves to a life of chasing the next goal to somehow exorcise the demon that propels us.
A friend of mine who had the opportunity of floating his company on the FTSE back in 1998 during dot-com mania once related to me that his driving ambition was to make money - because he was “sh*t scared” he was down to his last £10m. Once with a net worth of £400m, the contrast is absurd.
He had it all. A villa in Monaco, the Bentley Arnage, the SL55 AMG and the RR sport and the mansion in Berkshire. And when I mean mansion I mean a neo-Georgian folly with 35 rooms, an indoor pool, gym and marble columns that graced the entrance facade costing £250k each!
He had everything that was, apart from peace.
Common Sense means striving for more
October 18, 2008 by gbrown · Leave a Comment
Tiger Hill, Sikkim, Himalayas
On a cold, Himalayan morning we rose from our uncomfortable slumber in the minibus to the distant voices of guides ushering us up to the viewpoint on Tiger Hill.
It was the very same destination I had read about in Jonathan Gregson’s book “Kingdoms Beyond the Cloud”. The same peak that Gregson stood on 10 years prior and his own grandfather back in the post war period during the decline of the British Empire. As dawn broke you could see the cloud bank rolling across the plans of Bangladesh to your right, the distant pavilions of Tibet in front marked by the awesome sight of the holy mountain Kanchenjunga and to your left the glistening peak of Everest reflecting the morning sun from the East.
All my life I had dreamed of climbing Everest because I believed it could bring me peace, or exorcise the hunger that drove the entrepreneurial spirit. It was simply common sense - an agenda that was not my own.
Yet, standing here on Tiger Hill, it became meaningless. Ask any mountaineer and they’ll tell you that standing on Everest, the only thought that possesses their mind is not “what a view” but “how am I going to get down alive?” Life is so much enjoyable when you’re not climbing mountains but enjoying the view.
Business Common Sense
October 17, 2008 by gbrown · Leave a Comment
The organization is all about Common Sense.
* Got a marketing idea? Better run that by the Marcomms department…
* Want to get more out of your people? Don’t involve human resources…
* Want to create an inspirational workplace conducive to ideas? Check with health and safety.
* Reduce costs and improve profitability? Shut down customer services - our one credible channel for marketing and product development.
By design, organiztions act with common sense, it’s in their DNA.
One such path of execution is the need to grow big. We’ve all done it - the size of your organization is a mark of its success. That’s just common sense.
Seth Godin’s “Small is the New Big” aims to put that myth to rest by providing us with some remarkable uncommon sense.
Why is BIG no longer desirable? Because BIG breeds organizational common sense because large organizations smother the 3 key areas of business growth - relationships, planning and creativity. People in large organizations do not take risks.
See how the world is changed.
Page 1 of The New Big…AAA Auto Parts. The days of Aadvaark Motors are long gone. Why? Because we live in the Post Google world where customers get exactly what they want with no compromize - and the compromize means not having to read through a serial list of advertisers starting with A.
Even small companies can feature. And feature they do. Google is “small” compared to Microsoft. Both Red Bull and Jones Soda outcompete Coke in their own corners of the market because they focus on the 3 key areas - areas which are restricted by organizational common sense.
Graham Brown of MobileYouth.org talks about Trust and Mobile Operator Brands
October 16, 2008 by gbrown · Leave a Comment
For large operators such as Telenor Djuice of Norway the biggest single challenge is connecting with its most creative customers (youth) while at the same time being able to negotiate the common sense of the organization.
Here’s a presentation I gave to help them ask the right questions and free themselves from organizational “common sense” that produces common results.
Areas of interest:
* What do youth want from and think of their operators?
* Youth loyalty & churn (leading to Net Promoter Score)
* Trust Measurement as impact on Profitability
* Next Generation Brands (Red Bull, Jones Soda, EA, Scion etc)
Here’s the download for my (Graham Brown) presentation to Telenor Djuice in Oslo, October 2008 at the Djuice brand summit.
Technorati Tags: telenor, djuice, youth, mobileyouth, mobile youth, mobile youth report, youth marketing, youth research, net promoter score, churn, youth loyalty, crm, red bull, jones soda, EA, scion, graham brown
Presentation
Some of the Videos Used in the Presentation (for more mobileyouth videos go here)
Quote - Ron Paul - Liberties
October 16, 2008 by gbrown · 1 Comment
“Let it not be said that no one cared, that no one objected once it’s realized that our liberties and wealth are in jeopardy” ~ Ron Paul 2007
Common Sense for Entrepreneurs
October 15, 2008 by gbrown · Leave a Comment
Common Sense…means work hard, sacrifice everything for that day when it’ll all come together. You’ll sell your company for $17.5m, pay your dues and sail off into the sunset. Arrival.
Or is it?
It took 40 degree sweltering heat, 95% humidity and an estanged phone call to my wife on my 35th birthday from Columbo airport to make me realize that it was absurd. Here I was on my birthday stuck waiting for a connection in Sri Lanka back from setting up our office in South India rammed cheek-by-jowl with sweaty Tamil businessmen and irate tourists when all I wanted to do was play with my son.
How absurd.
We spend our lives living out other people’s agendas, driving the car with our attention set on the rear view mirror. All in the name of that intangible yardstick “success”. We feel not “enough” so do the Tony Robbins firewalk, make our “moves”, say “yes!” to life and relate our maxims of positivity to all our peers until we wear them down into submission or bore them to tears.
“I’m going to be a millionaire” because the world will listen to me then… and then we make it and we’re still driving looking in the rear view mirror.
Less is More
October 15, 2008 by gbrown · Leave a Comment
How can less be more?
It seems uncommon sense, but this is what my riff is all about - being brave enough to go against the grain, beyond the societal illusion - the very same illusion that encourages us to waste our lives on hard
work.
In a world that demands more of everyone, how can doing less make you happier?
Let me share what I know already. It’s not easy.
But then working hard is easy. Slaving 60 hours a week in your office, in your business, for the firm is easy.
Easy? Because it simply means doing what is common sense. Sometimes we’re too busy to know what’s going on because we’re right in the middle of a life too noisy to allow a momentary respite.
I remember a simple cartoon of two scenes juxtaposed. First scene, Mercedes driver in traffic jam on yelling into mobile phone. Second scene, pedestrian strolling along sidewalk whistling a tune, unburdened by the commute. The two captions read, respectively “successful man” and “unsuccessful man”.
Being successful is the easy option.
It’s what society demands. “Early to bed, early to rise makes a man wealthy and wise” notes Benjamin Franklin… but consider the health, wealth and wisdom of your fellow commuters on your next jaunt on the 0705 misery express to London or wherever you work. Take a moment out of your schedule to look around. The exec flicking through emails on his blackberry, the office worker scanning the Metro’s headlines signifying more disease, more crime and more terror.
The irony is we are complicit in this manufactured reality because of our fear to take risks and live beyond our experience. Witness the old and the young - how their lack of or letting go of “common sense” and
received wisdom enables them to live without regret. The young child does not slave meaningless all day in order that she can earn enough money to run on a treadmill in the evening. To be happy, all she needs
is to be in the moment. Past, future and all the content that defines our identities have little meaning.
Similarly the humility of the old - their polite ways, their ability to sit still unburdened by the march of progress. Perhaps not so common in the developed world, but take time out to visit the Greek Islands and see how the elderly can spend a day “hanging out”, discussing affairs, watching the world go by. No wonder Crete has the longest life expectancy in Europe. They say it’s the Olive oil, but then that’s an easy answer because that one is a mere purchase away.
“Children, old people, vagabonds laugh easily: they have
nothing to lose and hope for little. There lies simplicity, happiness
and peace.” Matthieu Ricard
It’s easy to talk about happiness and self-reflection critics argue but what about paying my mortgage? Well here’s the second thing I have learned, more of which I’ll share with you later - that unless you’re ploughing furrows or carving widgets, there is very little correlation between what you earn and how much you work.
In fact, as you’ll discover, working hard is the easy option because that’s what everyone else is doing. Look around, a nation of hard workers. To busy to post that letter, go to the gym, catch up with friends. Too busy to spend time with the family, too busy to have a family. From the moment we wake we work hard with very little results.
Dad didn’t have much time to reflect on his life and if he did the concept would have been rather alien. I remember him getting upset when he realized he wouldn’t see in the next Spring’s bloom in the garden and
the day he had to tell his own mother on the phone he had 2 weeks to live. No man was ever born into the world to face this.
If we had the chance, what would we have wished more of? More time to check emails? More time at the office? More time watching TV? More time to buy that Mercedes? Regardless of culture, our wishes are simple and often universal. Spend time doing what we love, spend time with those we love.
The “deathbed” test highlights what is important in our lives. All the rest is mere detail. It’s easy to major in the detail because it’s safer. Detail doesn’t ask the difficult questions of you. Yet, given this is our only shot at living this life, why do we follow common sense?
Call it back to basics, call it a mini-retirement if you will, this blog is a journey to explore the possibilities of living outside of other people’s agendas, working less, enjoying life, being happier, achieving financial freedom and ultimately taking that day off.
Cameron: “The 1961 Ferrari, two-fifty GT California. Less than a hundred were made. My father spent three years restoring this car. It is his love, it is his passion . . .”
Ferris Bueller: “It is his fault he didn’t lock the garage
Quote - Mark Twain - On the Side of the Majority
October 14, 2008 by gbrown · Leave a Comment
“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it’s time to pause and reflect.” - Mark Twain
RedBull - Not a Drink but a Youth Brand with Uncommon Sense
October 14, 2008 by gbrown · Leave a Comment
Great thing about Red Bull is, whether you can stomach the taste or not, it’s doing something different about connecting with its consumers. Rather than investing heavily into technology or above the line marketing the brand marketing, like the message it aims to project to its consumers, is all about taking risks.
Risks? Yes, that means uncommon sense.
Marketing would normally mean common sense. You know, let’s make a drink like Coke but only cheaper, or worse still let’s make a drink better than Coke.
Red Bull really has b*lls. It has the core attributes of a great (not good!) youth brand:
* Clarity in its message (we are for active aspirational youth, we are definitely not for old people)
* Value creation (we create events rather than sponsor them - eg Xgames, Red Bull Air Race)
* Dialogue (marketing is something we do with rather than to youth - exemplified by their on-campus marketing activities)
Working Hard is the Lazy Option
October 14, 2008 by gbrown · Leave a Comment
“Life moves pretty fast. If you dont stop to look around once in a while, you could miss it”
Not the words of Nietszche, Plato or even Tony Robbins but high school drop out Ferris Bueller in the 80s teen flick “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off“.
Despite his lack of academic prowess, Bueller embodies many of the positive attributes a man should aspire to be - charming, curious, gregarious, subversive, loyal, witty, daring and ultimately free.
Ferris’s aphorism is one of happiness through a journey of self-discovery. The symbolism isn’t lost on Ferris’ wanton joy-ride through life courtesy of his buddy Cameron’s rich dad’s 1961 Ferrari GT California - the car so precious is was kept constantly under lock and key in the garage.
While very few of us could claim to owning the Ferrari GT California, we all democratically own time and happiness and the vast majoirty have, like Cameron’s father, kept it locked in the garage for that “some day” - that elusive future day when the toiling is over, we’ll put up our work-weary feet and declaire “I have arrived”.
Often it’s difficult to value that which we take for granted until it’s taken away from us. My father, in many respects was like most males of his generation. Born a farmer’s son on the Yorkshire Dales in 1940, he only knew hard work as the route to escape poverty. Left school aged 15 to join the marines, get an education, see the world. On return to civvy street they told “get a safe job, one with benefits, one that will look after you when you retire” and so he found himself an assistant role at the University in Portsmouth where he worked the rest of his life in the comfort that there waited an annuity that would take care of himself and my mother through their “golden years”. Dad’s generation was one driven on the one hand by the spectre of poverty in old age and on the other a general economic inability to enjoy life until the yoke of a life’s work was finally dismissed.
Yet, the irony was Dad was never to enjoy those golden years he had been promised. Diagnosed with cancer and forced into an early retirement ahead of plan aged 59 he spent his last few years bravely fighting an uphill battle against a menace that took hold of his life and reduced a once fit, proud man into a skeletal bag of hair, tubes and bones.
He wasn’t the only one. Male mortality doubles in the 5 years following retirement. A generation of human doings with nothing to do. I wonder what Dad would have made of Soren Kirkegaard’s quote “Life must be lived forward but understood backwards”. Probably not very much as it offered little solace on his deathbed aged 63 and even less when he had me aged 33. He was too busy building a family, building a life.
I wonder though, if he had known there were to be no “golden years” how we would have played it differently. Would he, like the rest of us, realize that Ferris Bueller’s instruction to “look around once in a while” could signal a greater need amongst us all to enjoy living in the moment rather than deferring everything until that “some day”.
I recall the poignant graffiti scrawled on a derelict wall in downtown Mission, San Francisco during a business trip to Silicon Valley in the 90s. “The best things in life aren’t things”. Yet, by the time my father had passed, I had spent the best years of my youth chasing “things” - the cars, the titles, the houses.
To say that his death would have evoked my own epiphany would be a lie. I became obsessed with the “things” because I had become obsessed with other people’s agendas - the notion that I wouldn’t find peace or respect until I had “achieved”, I had “arrived”.
What happened next would for many have seemed to be a step in the wrong directions - a step backwards, a retirement, a loss of drive, a settling for less. Einstein once remarked that common sense was no more than a collection of other people’s prejudices. Common sense was the key theme of our candelight discussion in the Himalayas during a visit to the remote mountain kingdom of Bhutan. Alongside a group of backpackers and guides we shared ideas and opinions over a bottle of the local tipple into the early hours each offering their 2 cents to answering the question “what’s it all about”. It, for the purpose of our discussion, was simply “life”.
It was 1972, the year I was born. Concerned about the problems afflicting other developing countries that focused only on economic growth, Bhutan’s newly crowned leader, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, decided to make his nation’s priority not its G.D.P. but its G.N.H., or gross national happiness. The year I visited for the first time, Bhutan was preparing itself to legalize TV.
The common sense view held that TV meant progress. It’s all very well to wax lyrical about remote shangri-las preserved in theme park tourism but progress, the argued, meant playstations, BMWs, health care, TVs and American Idol.
“I opened this country. I made this town what it is. I bought jobs and industry. I built an empire with my own hands, and I’ve never asked help from anyone. Those squatters, Reverend, are standing in the way of progress.” screached Lahood to Preacher played by Clint Eastwood in Pale Rider referring to the local Mexican villagers who were “in the way” of the progress of expanding his mining empire. To which Eastwood replies “who’s - theirs or yours?”
As Ferris Bueller helps us discover through the journey without destination, there are no absolutes in defining how you measure your success in life. From driving a top of the range 5 litre, V8 S class Mercedes to a relatively humble family Toyota, from managing 35 people in 3 countries to none, from working 60 hour weeks to less than 15 - one could argue that many of the life changes I had made were counter intuitive.
To the voices and the common sense, I’d reply - you know what? you’re right. I opted for less, to simplify and like, Ferris Bueller to “stop and look around once in a while”.
Graham Brown on how the US credit crunch impacts property investment (Free Ebook)
October 4, 2008 by gbrown · 2 Comments
Graham Brown provides insight into how the recent developments in the US (the credit crunch) will affect the BMV industry and change the face of investing irrevocably. He also provides a roadmap for future investment.
Download & share the Full BMV Ebook now (PDF)
Technorati Tags: bmv, property, credit crunch, investment, kiyosaki, nmd, bmv leads, bmv deals, mortgages
Born on this day…
October 2, 2008 by gbrown · Leave a Comment
Mohandas Gandhi 2 October 1968
Father of democratic India and a shining light for all that believe there is another way…
“My life is my message”
Born on this day - TS Eliot
September 26, 2008 by gbrown · Leave a Comment
“We shall not cease from exploration, and at the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time” TS Eliot (26 September 1888 – 4 January 1965)
“Footsteps echo in the memory
Through the pathways which we did not take
Toward the door we never opened
Into the garden”
